Blog

16 reasons why we value corporate worship

1. We gather to remember and celebrate the Gospel. We need each other to remember and celebrate well.

2. In corporate worship we follow the pattern of the church for the past two millenia. Traditions are not authoritative but they are valuable. We love the fact that we are a part of what the church has been doing for a couple thousand years.

3. We gather out of recognition of the bodily nature of the church. This communal nature is referred to all over the new testament. Words like “flock”, “body” & “household” are routinely used in referring to the church. The author of Hebrews (Apollos I think) tells us in Hebrews 10:25, “not to forsake the assembly of the saints”. We gather because we see this as normative in the scriptures. We also gather because practically it is good to be together. We need each other. We. Need. Each. Other. In spite of a rugged individualism that we often gravitate towards, we need each other.

4. We assemble to hear and be under the preaching of the Word of God. This aspect of worship takes center stage at our gatherings. This gathering isn’t about the skill of the preacher, but rather about the content of the Word.

5. Corporate Worship helps us remember the Kingdom of God....we are a part of something much bigger than the bubble we often live within. Corporate worship awakens us to the Kingdom of God that we are prone to lose sight of.

6. Corporate Worship is part of submitting ourselves to the authority of the church in our lives.

7. Corporate Worship allows us to sing together. Melodies stir up affection in our soul and when we sing good Theocentric songs it helps us to love God more.

8. When we gather to worship together we are able to pool our resources for the sake of the gospel. Being good stewards together helps us to fight against the love of money and reorient ourselves around a Biblical worldview.

9. Communion....we remember the broken body and shed blood together as a family of faith that has been redeemed by the blood of the cross.

10. - Baptism....Corporate Worship allows new believers to publicly profess their faith and the church to celebrate the growth of the Kingdom.

11. Corporate worship provides us an opportunity to serve each other as an act of worship. There is a myriad of ways to worship when we gather. Singing, listening, preaching, kindness, childcare, eating, fellowship, prayer, setup, cleanup, weeping, dancing, mourning, laughing....all these can be worshipful when done with the right focal point.

12. Consistently gathering for public worship allows us to both know and be known by each other. Life is intended to be lived in community. Isolation is a terrible silence that chills the soul and quenches zeal.

13. Corporate worship reminds us to love the missing. It helps us to interact with and be driven by the intrisic mission of the Gospel.

14. In gathering on Sundays we celebrate the resurrection. This is no arbitrary day to meet....we gather on the first day of the week because that is the day that Jesus rose from the grave.

15. Corporate worship is a testimony to the community around us. The community might not fully understand why the church does what it does, but they do know that there are a lot of people that set aside a few hours on Sunday morning to worship.

16. Corporate worship connects us to the church globally and across the span of the ages. It is incredible to stop and think about what Sunday mornings look like around the globe. There are churches that gather in homes, mud huts, in buildings, cafes, schools and stadiums all around the world. This weekly event has been happening every Sunday for over two thousand years.